"Serbian clubs don't need the ABA League!" Croatian basketball legend tells Sportal: I wrote to Željko – don't let emotions trick you into returning to Partizan!

"My Serbian journalist colleagues said I was the only coach from this region – at that time Yugoslavia, so the former Yugoslavia – who won titles with two different domestic teams. Others have trophies with international clubs, but not with local ones."

"Perhaps it was more complicated in Cibona in its own way, because I started as a young coach. I mean, young, I was 31 and 33 years old during that period. However, the thing is, I came after Novosel, who was a big name, and then everyone looks at you in a special way, wondering how it will go, if it will be good... Still, the first year was fifty-fifty. Mirko had already started focusing on the Universiade, so he didn't want or couldn't travel as much. He led one part of the training for the European competition, and I led the domestic one. And there I won both the championship and the Cup, and we also won that Champions Cup in Athens. The second year, when I was the sole coach, we won the Champions Cup against Žalgiris, which was practically the Soviet Union national team. We won the Cup, but then those famous games against Zadar happened, with two overtimes, and that trophy slipped away – actually, the only one in the former Yugoslavia that eluded me. I see Zadar is now celebrating its 40th anniversary of that as their greatest success, which only proves how great a team we were, when it's presented as Zadar's biggest victory in history. I was glad to hear that and I still congratulate them on it."

"Once the game starts, you forget all that. After all, I had been an assistant coach for eight years before that. I learned things that I adopted and believed I would need in the future, primarily from Mirko's management and his attention to everything, not just what happened on the court. Then you add your own touch, because that's just how it is. During a game, you often watch what he does and might think it's not right, only to realize later that it was, for example, good. Everyone has their own perspective; there are no two identical coaches, no copies. If you call a wrong timeout or make a bad substitution, the result is gone. So, there's none of that. It wasn't easy, I must say it really wasn't easy. However, I built a good relationship with the players. Dražen Petrović was there, a top professional, so there were no problems with that. We played beautiful basketball. The Dom Sportova arena, which is now being renovated, was always full; there were 12,000 people all year round."

"I'll tell you how our basketball evolved back then. In '86 and before, we played what they now call a 'passing game.' So, there were no fixed plays, or what is now called 'set offense,' but rather movements, player inspiration, creating space, cuts, an occasional screen, and so on. That was then. By '91, the game had already changed; Split, for example, played with a system in offense, just like today. That's a big difference. Now, who would win... Those were two exceptionally high-quality teams. That year, we played against Cibona, which, admittedly, wasn't at the level of the '86 team, and we barely won by one point in the Cup final in Rijeka. I couldn't say who would win. Truly, on one side was the genius Kukoč, on the other, the genius Petrović. On the sidelines were great players: Savić, for example, and the late Sretenović – unfortunately, I'm so sorry, he was such a wonderful man, let alone a player, then Perasović. And on the other side, Čutura, Ušić... I mean, these are all big names in basketball."

"First, let me address the NBA. As a coach, I'd say it's less sport and more a show. A game score of 135:128 tells you that defense isn't being played at all. They're only looking for good shooters. Fundamental mistakes, which you'd tell junior players not to make in practice, we see on NBA courts, simply because it's a show. More points, faster. However, I believe the NBA has reached its peak; you can't go to 160 points, it makes no sense. Either they'll have to introduce a four-point shot, or they'll come up with a rule to change it, or they'll return to what was played for a while – actually playing defense. What's happening now, I think, is beyond everything. As for European basketball, there's a bit of disarray now in the relationship between the NBA and the EuroLeague, in quotation marks. The EuroLeague has done a great job in terms of image, the financial capacity of clubs, and everything else, including, of course, Zvezda and Partizan. From that perspective, it's good. Now, with these high costs and budgets in basketball, all of us involved know it's very difficult to secure those funds directly. This means there always has to be a strong sponsor or a private individual who can contribute. When I was at Panathinaikos, the president and his brothers provided certain funds to raise the budget to the required level. This is a problem that the EuroLeague leadership also sees, understands, and is trying to solve, which is why Dubai is getting involved, so clubs can reach a sustainable financial level. This also applies to Partizan and Zvezda. Look, the budgets they have are a pipe dream for Croatia, where budgets are 1.5 to a maximum of 1.7 million euros. As for the ABA League, there are quite a few controversies there. I believe Zvezda and Partizan don't have that much interest in the ABA League – I'm speaking my private opinion, not because I know something specific – because it's an additional competition alongside the EuroLeague, the local Serbian league, and so on. All of this creates confusion for the fans too. Three games a week, today you play Zadar here, next time a home game with someone else... The audience has gotten a bit lost there, and we need to see how that will work. And purely technically on the court, when I watch the EuroLeague, I see too many patterns. You have one cross-movement, then two screens, then a pass down low, then a shooter in the corner who only knows how to shoot. The team structure has been simplified quite a bit, so you have a guard who has to drive, a power forward who can shoot a three, and a shooter in the corner who just stands and waits. So, creativity has decreased in that segment. What has increased, and is evident, are strength, speed, and jumping ability. But a problem arises – Partizan and Zvezda don't have domestic players."

"I think that's a realistic way of thinking. If 50 percent of the league consists of Serbian clubs, which is a fact, then it's completely normal to add two or four more clubs, and there are plenty, because the Serbian talent pool is larger; it's still 6.5 million people. To me, it's absolutely logical, because this ABA League has somehow been left hanging in the air. Cibona, for example, has already moved towards FIBA competitions. I'll say one more thing, because I have to – the ABA League leads nowhere, that's a fact. Where is the pure sporting motive there? Only in the sense that one team might get relegated, another might pay, then teams from Dubai or Vienna jump in, without any sporting reason. And what else I'll tell you – we are witnessing the denial of the results of Partizan, Split, and Cibona in FIBA competitions. We achieved our greatest results in FIBA competitions, and what we have today is not FIBA. In that way, a part of the clubs' history is completely denied. Nobody thinks about that, and that's a fact."

"He would be Nikola Jokić, just not to that extent. Not even to that extent in Europe. When he plays for the national team, he gets the job done, but those are completely different levels of numbers. Regardless of playing 40 minutes here and 48 minutes in the NBA, that triple-double and everything else has a different dimension there, we have to admit that. Jokić is an extremely intelligent guy on the court, he has character and many good qualities, he's among the best in the world, that's for sure. But in European basketball, that extra, third pass, it doesn't exist here, or that defensive player goes to the bench because he fell asleep, or you don't put him back in the game. And there in America, you see how he draws two defenders with a fake, the third defender forgets his man, and the other player cuts in with the ball. I mean, those are elementary mistakes, and we coaches see them. That's why I agree with the theory that he wouldn't be as dominant, which doesn't mean he wouldn't be an extremely important player in Serbian and European basketball; there's no doubt about that because he's an extraordinary player, but the dominance wouldn't be the same."

"It's a bit difficult for me to say because Zoran Sretenović is no longer with us, but I think Savić was number one. He played that final game phenomenally and was the MVP. I made a mistake there; I put Kukoč, because the whole season was ending, and I thought – he pulled us through so many games, but Savić did too. He was very grateful, combative, stable, and did an enormous amount of work. And Sreto, we know who Sreto was – a little computer in his head, that's how he operated on the court, he did tremendous work. Unfortunately, he's gone. So, that's what I carry from my experience."

"Absolutely the best, there's no doubt about that. In sports, no matter how much we philosophize, you have coaches who simply didn't manage to go all the way. In 100 years, there are only 100 of those first places, and when you distribute that, you see it's not actually such a large number; you have to be that one in 100, that's a lifetime and a little more. In any case, I remember Željko from those games between Partizan and Jugoplastika in Belgrade. The late Duško Vujošević coached that team; Željko was a player then, but it was already evident on the court that he thought like a coach. What needs to be said – there are no coincidences. Željko has that extra spark in his mind, just like top players do, which allows his team to do exactly what brings victory in the final moments of a game. I differentiate between a coach who achieved a result once, whether by luck, knowledge, or expertise, and coaches who endure, like him, and for example, Božo Maljković, and the late Duda Ivković; Serbia has coaches. Or here – Mirko Novosel, Pero Skansi, and myself... But the key is continuity, not just a single flash. That's why Željko and his titles have great value in every sense."

"I'll tell you a little secret. When he resigned, I sent him a message saying: 'Don't let emotions persuade you to come back.' Because everything would again fall on his shoulders. When you say that the time of such a decorated coach has passed, it's just a matter of envy. Fans have the right to their opinion. When you lose a game in Spain, white handkerchiefs immediately appear, and they shout 'fuera' – let's go, out. These are normal things in sports. His time has absolutely not passed. The only question is whether he still has the motivation to fight every day, because it's incredibly draining, which is visible during games; that's the only fundamental thing. I think if he wants to, he should continue his job, which he does brilliantly. Stories that his time has passed are for children. Partizan, last year, when he arrived and two years before that, was building a team. It was quite difficult; big changes were made, and every year it was a new team. But last year, something else happened, if I remember correctly, Partizan went on a tour to Australia before the season, maybe a month or a little less. Well, that immediately means jet lag, opposite time zones, everything is opposite. When you return, you need seven days just for your head and body to adapt to the local conditions. Because of that, practices aren't good, and the games there weren't at the level Partizan needed. I think the cause of the poorer result wasn't Željko's undeniable knowledge, but rather the structuring of preseason games. The club probably had the right to say: 'You have to go there because we have some interest,' that's logical to me, but I think that was the key to a bad start to the season. After that, it's difficult; nervousness begins, players are nervous, and a lot of money is at stake. I consider that one of the main causes of this year's failure."

"That was at that specific moment. I wrote that to him purely honestly, from my own experience, because returning at that moment wouldn't solve anything. In fact, he would cover up all the bad things that happened, and after a month, everything would fall back on him again. But a new season is a new season. He is a Partizan 'child,' a Partizan fan, and it's logical for him to continue if he has the desire and will, and if things are set up differently. At that moment, he simply snapped, which is normal because he saw certain things. I'll tell you as a coach, when your team allows a 25-0 run in one game, and then a 13-0 run in another, that has nothing to do with the coach. Those are other things I won't publicly state, but all of us coaches know there was a bit of everything within the team. So, he paid the price on multiple fronts."